1st trip of 2012!

The kids had another week off school after the holidays so we decided to take a little trip to Pismo Beach. I have wanted go there ever since I saw Clueless about 15+ years ago and Cher was organizing the Pismo Beach Disaster Relief (that is the 1st thing that comes to mind every time I hear Pismo, anyone else? just me? ok) Anyway...fell IN love with that area of the California Coast and how could you not when this is what is looks like....

It wasn't loose sand so it was perfect to run and play on.

It didn't matter that the water was freezing and it wasn't real warm outside, Andy and Taylor had so much fun playing in the water.

Grandpa J braved the cold to stay close by them.

And to yell RUN if a big wave came.

There were lots of great sea shells and Sand Dollars to find. We even caught a live Sand Dollar...how come I never realized those were living things at one time???? Should have paid more attention in Oceanography class.

Taylor in her element. She was not born to be a city girl, put her in any kind of outdoors and she is in heaven.

There were fun caves to explore and it was great to have Grandma and Grandpa J with us on this little vacation.

Ashlyn had a big fall into the water and was content to spend the rest of the time searching for sea shells.

This was our view for 4 days....it was really hard to leave.

1/1/12

 On New Year's Day we continued our 4 year tradition of going to Balboa for the day.  

It is always an amazing day, fun and beautiful. 

A picture with all kids looking forward.....

 

And then the boys are off and the girls are posing! Love it!

 

I am blessed to be surrounded by handsome, sweet boys.

 This little man is looking way too grown up for my liking.

He gives the BEST loves EVER!  He pretty much has all of us wrapped around his little finger.

Our friend Viwe from South Africa was visiting us for the week.  Tyler had fun showing him around LA and we got to take him to see Wicked...such a fun visit.

 I am also surrounded by beautiful girls....I am one lucky momma.

 

A perfect way to start the new year! 

Ringing in the New Year!

Hello 2012!

The kids were so excited for the "countdown" to midnight ...NYC time. They waited (im)patiently all day and decorated (made a mess) the house with their own confetti from these necklace things.Finally our friends the Hill's arrived to celebrate with us but the countdown was still hours away...TORTURE! We almost did a fake countdown at 7:00 just to end the madness. However, 9:00 finally came and they were able to count down, watch the ball drop, and blow their rather loud horns. We then released them outside with sparklers and silly string.

I think I had them in bed in record time after that.
It was a rather loud and crazy evening but of course lots of fun.

2011 was a great year for us and the future is very bright from where we stand.
Here's to a great year!

Well Hello!

For those of you who use Google Reader, are you asking yourself who is Jorgenson Clan because its been 7 months since my last post. Had you given up on us? It's true I abandoned the blog world after an annoying stalker required me to go private, launching a new business that took up all my time and let's just face it, life is busy and I can barely keep up with all its twists and turns to really put time into a blog. However, as the new year approached and I reflected back over 2011 and all that transpired I realized that I have no journaling of all our crazy moments. As pressured as I felt to keep our blog regularly updated and the occasional stress I felt when I fell behind, it forced me to record our family and all our experiences. Without it the last 7 months I feel that I have lost many precious memories and so here am I committing myself to the blog once again. I'm not sure how many people still follow non-money making blogs but our family will and I just KNOW our kids will love to has this record someday. For those of you choosing to tune in, welcome back and here's to a fabulous 2012.

Our Baby turns 1

Chase's 1st birthday was bitter sweet for me. As fun and cute as he is, I was sad that his baby stage came to an end so quickily. I have LOVED every second of his 1st year and so many times I would will myself to store certain memories into my brain. Being this is the 4th time we have been through this, I know how fast it goes. And most likely (99.9%) he is our last which made the last year even more special and even more sad to see come to an end. On his birthday we headed to (where else?) the beach to celebrate and have fun with our little man.

He is definitely one of our kids.

He loves to be outdoors and on the go just as much as the other 3.

Ruby's was the perfect spot for a little celebrating.

Chase already knows how to throw tantrums because he spends half his time being suffocated with love and attention from his brother and sisters. I would throw a tantrum too if they were constantly in my face =)

His first words were Hi and Momma. I love hearing him say that and yell to me when were driving or when he wakes up or when he wants to give me something.

I am happy that he is a Momma's boy, no question.

Field Trip

In April I was able to go with Taylor on her field trip to the Hidden Valley Nature Center. Such a cute fun placeTaylor's buddy for the day is the quietest girl in the WHOLE class which was perfect. Taylor likes to be the leader and this girl let Taylor lead her around. We went on a hike.Made necklaces.Were educated.Rotated through different animal learning stations inside the Nature Center.

Had lunch.

Pet a snake. I LOVE this picture!

Had a great day with a great group of kids.

I can't believe 1st grade is almost over. It has flown by. Taylor has grown up so much and has had a fabulous year. I'm grateful she goes to a good school with great teachers and parent involvement.